Last week, Sean Considine forced a fumble that led to Jacksonville’s game-winning Hail Mary TD pass. Sunday, Considine’s interception with five seconds left clinched a 24-20 win over Jacksonville. The former Byron star recently lost his starting safety spot for the Jaguars (6-4), but has helped keep them in the playoff race with big plays in the dime package when Jacksonville goes with six defensive backs.

Matt Trowbridge

Last week, Sean Considine forced a fumble that led to Jacksonville’s game-winning Hail Mary TD pass. Sunday, Considine’s interception with five seconds left clinched a 24-20 win over Jacksonville. The former Byron star recently lost his starting safety spot for the Jaguars (6-4), but has helped keep them in the playoff race with big plays in the dime package when Jacksonville goes with six defensive backs.

“I’m more like a linebacker, covering tight ends and doing a little blitzing and that type of stuff,” Considine told Jacksonville reporters Sunday. “It’s fun, actually. It’s a new thing for me and I’m enjoying it.”

Considine was also used as the perfect example on how to defend Michael Vick. His name wasn’t mentioned, but Tony Dungy used Considine’s sack of Vick before the prime-time Eagles-Giants game to illustrate how you have to blitz Vick from the right side, which is his blind side.

Anderson’s play not enough

Mark Anderson made his biggest play since having 12 sacks as a rookie for the 2006 Super Bowl Bears, and it still wasn’t enough. Anderson, picked up by Houston after the Bears cut him, hit Mark Sanchez to force an interception returned to the Jets’ 10 with 1:52 remaining and the Texans ahead 24-23. But Houston settled for a field goal and the Jets rallied to win with 10 seconds left.

Bears’ D vs. Eagles’s O

Philadelphia offers the perfect offense vs. defense test when it comes to Soldier Field this week. The Eagles are No. 1 in total offense, second in rushing, first in yards per carry by a whopping half yard at 5.4 and second in scoring. The Bears are No. 3 in total defense, No. 2 against the run and tied for first with Green Bay in scoring defense.

The strength vs. strength concept even extends to how the Eagles run and pass. The NBC announcers Sunday night stressed how good Vick was at throwing deep and saying he struggles at the short passes in the flat. Also, the Eagles are boom or bust running, gaining 90 yards on two fourth-quarter carries Sunday and 58 yards on their other 24 runs.

Advantage Bears. They lead the NFL in defensive three-and-outs. The way to run against Chicago is with steady runs, not a couple of long ones. And the Bears are better at defending longer passes — their 15 interceptions are tied for second behind Philadelphia’s 19 — than shorter ones. That’s why Chicago should beat the Eagles unless they turn it over at least three times.

Former Bengal QBs thrive

Former Bengal QBs Ryan Fitzpatrick and Jon Kitna have led the Bills and Cowboys to as many wins in the last two weeks as Carson Palmer has for the Bengals (2-8) all year. They also have higher passer ratings.

Getting AP untracked

The first job for new Vikings coach (and former Bear) Leslie Frazier should be getting more from Adrian Peterson. Peterson is second in the NFL in rushing with 980 yards and has zero fumbles, but also hasn’t made much of a difference. He had 72 yards Sunday, but only three of his 14 carries gained more than 3 yards. Perhaps the threat of a Tarvaris Jackson scramble would help Peterson more than Brett Favre’s No. 32-rated passing.

Matt Trowbridge’s NFL Quick Shots appear Tuesdays. He can be reached at 815-987-1383 or mtrowbridge@rrstar.com.

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